The present invention is directed to an apparatus and process providing distribution of text, audio, video or other content on a medium such as an optical disk storage medium which includes both information content-mastered regions and recordable regions (writeable regions) and in particular to a small-format, lightweight apparatus and method of use, for distributing content on disks to facilitate either or both of buying and selling (with appropriate royalty payments for proprietary intellectual property) and/or annotation correction or revision of the content, e.g., using the writeable area.
A number of benefits can be achieved using a medium which can readily and economically provide both content-mastered information and the ability to write or record information. As used herein, xe2x80x9cinformation content-masteredxe2x80x9d refers to a medium in which content is provided on the medium before it reaches the user. A common example is music CD""s in which the music is information content-mastered (xe2x80x9cICMxe2x80x9d) prior to distribution to users. Information written onto the same medium which contains ICM can be useful, e.g., in any of a number of systems for accounting for or collecting usage fees, royalties or similar charges for use of proprietary intellectual property in such content, including systems involving use of the Internet (or other communications systems), thus effectively providing a device which is not only an electronic book, music or multimedia player or similar content-output device, but also effectively an Internet appliance (i.e., an apparatus which can operate, at least partially, in connection with information obtained using the Internet or similar communication system).
Many previous attempts to provide ICM and writeable portions on the same medium have encountered or resulted in various problems. Some data storage media are pre-recorded only in a serial fashion, such that it is not possible or feasible to produce the entire content at one time. A typical example (albeit, involving analog, rather than digital, encoding) is the pre-recording of audio tapes which, even if recorded at high speed and/or simultaneously recording multiple tracks, were generally recorded serially, i.e., beginning at one physical end of the tape and recorded along the length of the tape to the other end. In general, the amount of time required for such serial pre-recording can render the process substantially economically unattractive. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a system, apparatus and method involving both ICM and writeable portions wherein the mastered content is provided in the medium substantially all at once.
Many systems that involve writeable media are unsuitable for archival or other long-term or secure storage, either because the written information is re-writeable (e.g., typical CD-RW media) or because the information tends to degrade in a relatively short time period (or both). Accordingly it would be useful to provide a system, apparatus and method involving both ICM and writeable portions in which, if desired, the writeable portions can be provided in a form which is not re-writeable or erasable, and/or which is relatively long-lived, so as to provide archival information storage, e.g., storage for about ten years or more substantially without information loss.
Although there are techniques for mastering content all at once (such as stamping or pressing of vinyl audio recordings or injection molding of compact disks (CDs) and the like), the techniques and materials used in these processes are generally different from those used for providing writeable areas. Although it is possible to provide, e.g., a dye-based or other writeable optical disk with some data thereon pre-recorded, typically the pre-recorded data on a dye-based CD must be serially recorded. Accordingly, previous approaches, in order to provide both parallel-written, content-mastered information and writeable areas were required to have different (e.g. masked) regions for these two different types of areas and/or different materials and techniques, such as an optical disk having an inner radial area with molded mastered content and an outer radial area with writeable dye media. Media with two different regions of material have proved to be expensive and unreliable to produce. Moreover, the techniques, machinery and materials for producing such a two-medium storage device would typically predetermine the relative amount of ICM, versus writeable, area and thus was relatively inflexible such that changing the relative proportion of ICM and writeable area would require substantial retooling or redesign of fabrication processes. Accordingly it would be useful to provide a system, apparatus and method achieving parallel-written ICM material and writeable regions on a single-medium substrate, preferably such that the materials and techniques for the two areas used for forming the two areas are substantially the same, with the areas differing substantially only as to whether the region has content molded (i.e. embossed, or otherwise mastered) therein.
Furthermore, many systems require different sets or ranges of optical parameters for reading ICM data versus reading later-written data and/or for reading ICM data versus writing data. In some cases this means that two or more sets of optical apparatus (such as two different wavelengths of laser, powers of laser, optical trains or optical arms or the like) must be provided in a single playback and/or read/write drive. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an apparatus system and method using a medium which has both parallel-written ICM data and writeable areas, but which can be used (for reproduction and/or writing) using a single optical train or optical arm, a single and/or a single wavelength of light.
The present invention includes a recognition of the existence and nature of certain problems in previous approaches, including as described herein.
In one embodiment, an optical medium uses a single structure or format (such as identical materials, layers and the like) for both a region for holding ICM data, e.g., data which is written substantially all at once or in parallel, and for defining a writeable area, such as a user-writeable area. In one embodiment the ICM data is provided by an injection molding process. In one embodiment the data layer is a phase change layer including a phase change film. One suitable medium is described in application Ser. No. 09/315,398, supra, incorporated herein by reference. In one embodiment the medium has a high data density of about 26 Gigabit per square inch of data surface. By providing a high data density of this type, the present invention can provide for both a relatively large amount of ICM data and a relatively large amount of writeable area, e.g., totaling about 0.25 Gigabytes or more on one side of an optical disk, while providing a small form factor, such as a disk with a -diameter less than about 35 millimeters. In this way, it is possible, for example, to provide a disk which can include uncompressed text data equivalent to about 45 or more 1000-page books, plus a writeable area sufficient to accommodate about 5000 or more pages of annotations, comments, revisions, etc., on a disk having a diameter of about 35 millimeters. Preferably the writeable area, if desired, can be formed in a fashion such that information written therein is not normally re-writeable or erasable. Preferably the data, including later-written material is archival in nature such as having a expected data integrity life time of at least about 10 years or more.
In one embodiment a writeable region of a medium with ICM data is used in connection with paying, collecting or accounting for usage or royalties for proprietary intellectual property embodied in or associated with the content. According to one aspect, at least some of the ICM data is unavailable for display, playback or other reproduction or use until a user has entered a key or code (e.g., a code with which the user receives an exchange for a payment). For example, some or all of the ICM data may be encrypted and the key or code may form some or all of the information needed for decrypting the ICM data. Such code-enabled access to ICM data can be provided in conjunction with the writeable area of the medium in a number of fashions. In one embodiment, it is desired to provide for access to the ICM data which is limited or restricted in one or more of a variety of fashions, such as being limited to use on a particular playback device, limited to use by a particular user or person, limited to a certain number of playbacks, limited to a predetermined time period of playback, limited to using a particular geographic location or site, or combinations thereof and the like. For example, the system can be configured such that, in response to a user""s entry of an access code, the system will record, into the writeable area, information pertinent to the license (or other use rights) for the ICM or other data. For example, when use is to be limited to a particular playback device, the system can be configured such that a processor serial number, playback device serial number, (secret) key or other identifier of the playback device is recorded into the writeable area. Thereafter, before reproducing the ICM data, the system will verify that the identifier for the playback device matches an identifier recorded on the writeable area. In some embodiments, information providing playback rights for a second playback device may be recorded into the writeable area, usually in addition to or in place of the original playback device identifier, e.g., in response to entry of a second access code (such as provided in exchange for a second royalty or other payment).
In one embodiment, the (preferably write-once) writeable area can be used for storing later-written information such as annotations, highlighting, reordering, remixing, modifications, supplements, collections, additions, bookmarks, cross references, hypertext or hyperlinks and the like. Preferably, annotations and similar materials can be associated, by the user, with particular portions or content of the ICM data. For example, when the ICM data includes some or all portions of a text book or similar academic or teaching content, a student or other user may preferably insert notes or annotations e.g. taken during lectures, for later review which will preferably be displayed (or available) adjacent the content to which such notes or annotations refer or relate. In one embodiment, some or all of the annotations may be effectively blocked from viewing by a second user (such as another student who licenses the ICM data at a later time). Preferably the annotations or similar material can be indexed, searched, modified, linked, and the like. In one embodiment the medium, as distributed to users, includes executable programs, such as search engine programs (e.g. for use in searching ICM data or other items), database programs (e.g. for use in organizing or accessing ICM data or other items) and/or programs related to decryption (or other copy protection functions) or annotations (or similar later-written information). In this way, the media can be self-executing, and/or platform independent, in the sense that users can perform desired functions or operations without having to separately acquire and load software for performing such functions. Preferably, techniques are included in the disk data format to prevent binary copies.